When Nikon announced the D600 it was pretty much no big surprise. What was a big surprise was the fact that they would have it before Photokina and months before Canons 6D.

The D600 is the first “affordable” FX Camera from Nikon at clocks in at $2,099.99 at AllensCamera.com. Now I am not going to sit here and run down the tech specs as most of you already know what they are. You also know that the most important thing about the camera are not the specs but how it actually handles in the real world shooting environment.

What I am going to try and do is give you my straight up feedback from using the camera in a tough shooting situation of a night high school football game. If a camera can handle low light shooting and being pushed to its limits than it can handle everything and anything.

First things first this camera is pretty small yet it feels very nice in the hands. The one I shot with did not have the vertical grip yet shooting vertical really was not a problem at all. The screen is huge and clear and the buttons are will be very familiar to anyone who has shot or held a D800, D800E or Nikon D4. There is something to be said for keeping the same button set up from camera to camera to camera. The same holds true for the menu system. Nikon does a great job keeping the menus consistant from one body to the next.

Click the image to see all of the sample D600 photos from this review.

As many of you know I own two DROBOS, two of the DROBO S units with Firewire 800 and ESATA.

Coming out right now are two new DROBOS that are changing the home storage game not just with speed but with SSD abilities.

The DROBO 5D picks up where the DROBO S left off. It adds the ability to put a SSD in the bottom but also adds Thunderbolt and USB 3.0. This means you should be able to edit right on the DROBO without a problem now that there is major speed. The only issue is, if you do not have a newer MAC or computer with USB 3.0 your out of luck.

The coolest new toy from DROBO is the DROBO MINI which holds a mini SSD and four laptop hard drives. It fits into a small carrying case and is perfect for taking on the road with you when you want redundant storage anywhere in the world.

With Nikon’s D800 at a whopping 36 megapixels, why on earth did I opt for a medium format digital camera? I’ve been a Nikon shooter for years and have a bunch of professional Nikon glass and speedlites so adding a D800 to the mix seems a no brainer – or is it? There are many reasons. Bigger chip, bigger sensor. More real estate and bigger pixels. Insanely shallow depth of field. Full 16-bit color depth. Insane dynamic range and detail. To name a few. Oh, and I’m not abandoning 35mm – I’m holding steady to my D3s for everything else I won’t shoot on the Hassy.

The Canon T4i / 650D continues the line of fantastic, feature packed entry level cameras for beginners. When it comes to reviewing entry level cameras you have to look at them not as a pro but as a beginner. With that said this is a solid solid camera even though it is slightly more expensive than its Nikon counterpart.

I tested out this camera with the 18-55 Kit lens both for stills and video. You all know my feelings on kit lenses at this point but for those who don’t, I am not really a fan. I think they are a waste of money right off the bat and there are other better options out there. The thing is most new photographers do not know this so we can not hold it against them for purchasing the kit lenses. I started that way, I had kit lenses until I knew better.

Click Here to see all the full res sample images form this review.

The kit lens is fine, its nothing special, it will capture the moments well enough for the everyday shooter. Its fine for video though you will hear the autofocus motors moving if you choose to not shoot manual. What I will say is the sooner you graduate from kit lenses and understand how important better glass is the better off you will be.

The T4i handled very well, I loved the touch screen option for setting the camera, previewing images as well as zooming in on them. It was much more responsive then I had ever imagined and it left me wanting the same option on my Nikon D4.(more…)

As you guys know I like my Nikon Glass but I have been very harsh on certain lenses. Well this lens will not be an exception to that rule. Nikon decided to update their 24-85mm lens with VR and not the best VR, just the basic VR.

This lens has KIT written all over it though. The reason I say that is I would not put this lens on any current full frame camera on the market. The reason being is this is not a pro lens and most people with FX bodies like D700, D800, D3, D3s, D3x and D4 are looking for pro quality.

Another reason I say its a kit lens is its the perfect range to sell with an affordably priced entry level FX DSLR that does not currently exist.

Sure this lens will take ok pictures if all you are looking for are snap shots. But like I said about this is not for a PRO or anyone who is getting paid for their photography. I know this sounds harsh but at $600 you are pretty much buying the original lens and paying another $300 for VR to be added.

As you can see from the sample images below there is a ton of vignetting around the edges. That is something that you do not get on the top of the line lenses. You will also notice that when shooting at 24 the lines are not straight and than at 85 they again are not straight and bow out the opposite direction.

I hear people say that they like smaller lenses like this because they are lighter and easier to walk around with. I think that is a joke and I don’t buy into that. I personally do not buy lenses based on how much weight they have. I buy them based on will they give me the best image possible. If your looking to travel light than don’t take your full frame camera.

In the end this is not a lens that I would purchase for an FX body and for that matter its to expensive for a DX body. But if you are interested in this lens or any other Nikon Lens you can check out AllensCamera.com or call 215.547.2841.

There seems to be this trend to move towards thinner and smaller lenses known as Pancake lenses. Canon put out a 40mm 2.8 Prime lens that I picked up at AllensCamera to play with and review. I have been using this lens on the Canon T4i and have come to a simple conclusion.

This lens is a $200 no questions asked winner. The reason I say its no questions asked is the fact that its very inexpensive for what you get. The build quality is top of the line from the metal mount to the feel in your hands. With that said this is a very very small and light weight lens, thus the pancake design.

Canon tries to market this as a discreet lens for when you don’t want people to know your taking pictures. I think thats a marketing joke and not something I would ever promote a lens for.

Click Here to see the full set of images.

This lens is fast focusing, sharp all the way through and very very light. Sometimes you may think its to light and small. For example when you are shooting video its not out of the question that your finger finds its way into your frame while trying to focus the very very thin focusing ring.(more…)

When the Nivelo 245BK from Vanguard landed on my doorstep I was thinking what in the world would I do with such a small tripod? This is truly a very small and compact metal tripod that does not seem like it would server a huge purpose. I was actually wrong, there is a nice place in my bag or car for a tripod just like this.

Not only is it small and made out of metal it has some very interesting features to make setting it up and breaking it down easier. You have this four twist locking system for each leg that allows you to either extend each of the four sections or just one section at a time. This is a really nice feature that I would like to see added to some of the pro tripods.

Don’t get me wrong, this is not a tripod that I would put my Nikon D4 on but this is perfect for smaller entry DSLR cameras as well as point and shoots. Just like there is not one bag to rule them all there is not one tripod to rule them all. Sometimes have a few different options will allow you to take the right tripod for you wherever you are going.

For example I recently went to Florida and wanted to travel light with a small tripod to use to hold the Nikon D3200 while it was filming. I used the Nivelo while I was near the pool with the D3200 and 24-70 2.8. I was not worried that it would one fall in the pool or two tip over. A quick tip for tripods is make sure that the lens lines up with one of the legs to that it does not tip over.

Who is this tripod for? If you do a lot of hiking, trekking or traveling where you can only take what you can pack, carry or attach to your bag than this could be a nice option for you. This is not an inexpensive tripod at $150, but it really does hold up its end of the deal by giving you the ability to still take a tripod into places where you may not have been able to before.

For more information on Vanguard Tripods please CLICK HERE. If you would like to pick up any product that Vanguard offers please check out AllensCamera.com .

I cam across the Vanguard Tripods when I was at CES this year in Las Vegas. I asked for a few tripods to test out and the Alta Pro 263 AT was one of them. This metal tripod is only $149.99 for the legs and a quality head will be anywhere from $60-$100.

With that said for $250 to get a solid well built quality tripod you can not go wrong. A lot of people cheap out on a tripod and spend $100-$150 for one of those plastic not very good tripods. This is a tripod you buy once and you should have it for 10+ years without issues.

I use this tripod with my Nikon D4 for both still images and video. I even travel with this tripod as its not terribly to heavy.

The bottom line it is built very well, easy to use and full of great features and functions. Be sure to check out AllensCamera.com to pick up this or other Vanguard Products.

Today I got my hands on the NEW Nikon 28mm 1.8G AFS Lens with Nano coating. This was a surprise announcement from Nikon a few months back and I have to say its a very interesting lens. This lens is designed for FX camera but being that it is an AFS it will work on ALL DX camera bodies. Though I will say I think it performs much better on the full frame sensor.

Click Here to see the full res images.

This lens feels very light but it still feels well built. You have one switch on the side that allows you to go from AF to M. There is a simple large focus ring and pretty much not much more on the lens. One very important feature of this lens is that it has Nano Coating. Nano coating is a special coating on the lens elements that pretty much negates all lens flair. You can honestly point it right at the sun or a bright light and never see any issues with flaring.

At $699.99 this is a pro lens geared toward that professional photographer who is looking for a light fast aperture lens in their bag. This honestly is not a portrait lens but it is great for photo journalistic work. If you are looking to crush the background of a photo, dial down to 1.8 fill the grame with your subject and boom, the background butters away.